Electric controlled timing device



Aug. 1, 1933.

H. H. FOGWELL ET AL ELECTRIC CONTROLLED TIHING DEVICE Filed Aug. 25,1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 z IO@)0.

.IN VEN TORS Harmen/v H, Foswx-LL CHR ruf: H. Juan BY W4 Ml! ATTORNEY.

Aug. 1, 1933. H. H. FoGwELL Er Al. 1,920,588

ELECTRIC CONTROLLED TIMING DEVICE Filed Aug. 25, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2ill IN VEN TORS. Hann/:olv H. Foawn.:` Cif/uu: H Juan Il (C )4l-46 ATTORNEY. l

`Patented Aug. 1, 1933 PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC CONTROLLED TIMING DEVICEHarrisonV H. Fogwell and Charles Il. Judd, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application August 25,

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a timing device as applied to the circuit ofan electric motor, by means or" which the motor may be cut in and out ofoperation intermittently and without supervision.

- The objects of the invention are; rst, to provide a simple andeffective timing mechanism for an electric circuit; second, to socombine the elements that the movements of the timing mechanism shall,control the circuit of the electric motor of a pump; third, to provide ameans whereby the operations or" the motor shall be intermittent andvariable as to time intervals; and fourth, to eliminate' all personalsupervision.

Heretofore, `oil well operators have experienced diiculties in theoperation of their pumps, in that many Wells do not have sufcient flowto allow of continuous pumping, but must be pumped dry, then allowed torell and then pumped again. It was found that if the pump were operatedintermittently at one hour intervals, Yor for an hour and then restedfortwo hours, or for whatever periods of operation and rest the particularwell in question might demand, the production of the Well Was materiallyincreased. Because such intermittent control involved considerableattention and reliancefon the unreliable human element, the automatic`control herein disclosed was adopted.

Though'the invention relates primarily to the 30 operation of pumps forWells, it is to be understood that the principle may be used in many`other relations, and-it is intended that the claims herein madeshallnot be limited to said primary purpose any further than theirspecic language renders such limitation necessary.

-The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the entire mechanism, the cover or" thecabinet being removed; 40 Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;Fig. 4 is a sectional View oi the timing mechanism taken generally online 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the electriccircuits employed, and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a modiiication ofparts oi' the timing mechanism.

Referring rst to Fig. 5, M indicates an electric motor. purposes, itsprimary use is for driving a pump for an oil well W. The motor is inwhat may be termed the main circuit, the conductors of which are lshownat a and b. This is usually a high voltage circuit. It is opened andclosed automatically at predetrmined time' intervals by a switch Whilethis motor may be used for other,

1928. Serial No. 302,106

which is operated by a timing mechanism in an auxiliary controllingcircuit, the leads' of which are shown at c and d. This auxiliarycircuit is preferably of a relatively low voltage.

In Fig. 1 Vof the drawings, A is a suitable casing enclosing theoperating parts of the device, and 1 is the usual electric switch of thelow voltage, auxiliary circuit, c and d. When the switch is turned on,it throws a current through Vthe fuse 2 and the wire 3 to the terminal 4of the clock mechanism, which is indicated generally at 5. From theterminal 4, the current passes through the arbor 6 andthe hour hand 7,on which are two wiping contacts 8 and 9 which pass, in their orbits,over concentric rows of apertures 10 and 1l in the dial 12 of the clock,which dial is made of suitable insulating material.

Within the apertures 10 and 11, and countersunk below the face or thedial, are metallic inserts forming contacts points land 14, respectivelywhich connect at their lower ends with metallic rings 15 and i6, saidrings being set within the lower or inner side of the dial 12, wherebythey are insulated from the clock mechanism and from each other. Thehand contacts 8 and 9, which are of spring material, bear upon the dialface except when they reach their respective apertures 10 and 1l whenthey Asnap into position to engage with their respective dial contactpoints.

Thus, when the hand contact' snaps `into any of the apertures l0containing a dial contact point 13, an electrical connection isestablished to the ring 15, and the current passes from said ring,Vthrough a wire 17, to a leaf spring contact 18. Similarly, when thehand contact 9 snaps into any one of its apertures 11, it establishesconnection,'through its respective dial contact point 14, with the ring16 and, through a conductor 19, to another leaf spring contact 20.

As will be noted from Figs. 1 and 5, the apertures 10 and 11 in the dialare in staggered arrangement so that the hand contacts f8 and 9 reachthem at different times and in alternation. At no time will both handcontacts close with their dial Contact points 13 and 14 simultaneously.The apertures will be spaced about the dial so as to give the desiredtime intervalsV to 4the closures of the circuit through the leaf springContact 18 and 20. As shown in Fig. 1, the time interval is one-halfhour. Exactly on the hour, the contacts 9 ,and 14 close; then at thehalfhour, the contacts 8 and 13 close. As indicated in Fig. 5, theapertures 10 and `11 may `be closely spaced so as to provide for shorttime intervals. The dial contact points 13 andi14 are preferably m l mmmww.,

is Pl u mfsid les adx m forming themqsyf 5. in the manner describd. it:Vwill be t 5 md hun the said les is members coq. oi'theswith in the maincircumgid s being operaid @91.06 Ehe mim m' Y whnftlie said armature isattracted ,I K the said "armature carrigr in either les 38 ieg movespn'e spring no xxtagtIavvazspzirox'n tjag- IML w. m m m m m mi M mmm nuwww d holdingjhe said switch pchgoteiec a switch mated by the cloudpositions.

e w mm mm www clock Plum rnsement in s ail with. the mk theirsto-arranged the l i 'mlbe mmf si www wm, mmm

m m m 15s mmmxtpsibietoremoveme the orreadjustthem spring contact toengage with its cooperating contact point.

2. In an electric system, the combination of a main circuit, a switch insaid circuit, an auxiliary circuit, a pair of electromagnets in parallelarrangement in said auxiliary circuit, an armature for one of saidelectromagnets, a pivoted carrier for said armature, a pivoted legyieldingly connected with said carrier and rocked with the latter aslthe armature is moved, a pair of spring contacts in the circuitsleading to said electromagnets, said spring contacts being on oppositesides of the said leg so as to be operated by the latter in oppositedirections as the said leg is rocked, resilient switch membersyieldingly connected with the armature carrier and forming the movableparts of the switch in the main circuit, said members being operated toclose the main circuit when the said armature is attracted, means fortemporarily holding the switch members under stress in their closedpositions, and means under control of the other electromagnet forreleasing the said switch members and breaking the main circuit, thesaid leg and the cooperating spring contacts being so arranged that,upon the movement of the said armature carrier in either direction theleg moves one spring contact away from its cooperating contact point andpermits the other spring contact uto engage with its cooperating contactpoint.

3. An electric system comprising a main circuit of high voltage havingnormally open contacts therein, an auxiliary circuit of low voltagehaving branches in parallel arrangement, an electro-magnet in one of thebranches of said auxiliary circuit, an armature for said electromagnet,a frame, connections between the armature and said frame, means operableby said frame when the electro-magnet is energized for closing thecontacts in the main circuit, a latch for holding the said means inclosed position, a second electro-magnet in another branch of theauxiliary circuit for releasing the latch to break the main circuit, andmeans under control of the said frame for causing the saidelectro-magnets to be energized in alternation.

4. An electric system comprising a main circuit of high voltage havingnormally open contacts therein, an auxiliary circuit having branches inparallel arrangement, an electro-magnet in one of the branches of saidauxiliary circuit, a pivoted armature for said electro-magnet, a framepivoted coaxially with the said armature, connections between saidarmature and frame through which the latter is moved in one direction bythe armature, means carried by said frame for closing the contacts inthe main circuit when the magnet is energized, a latch for holding theframe in position for maintaining the contacts closed, a secondelectro-magnet in another branch of the auxiliary circuit for unlatchingthe said frame and permitting the closing means thereon to open the saidcontacts, and means under control of the Ysaid frame for switching thecurrent in the auxiliary circuit from one electro-magnet to the other inalternation.

5. An electric system comprising a main circuit of high'voltagev havingnormally .open conltacts therein, a switch for controlling said circuit,an auxiliary circuit of low voltage having branches in parallelarrangement, an electromagnet in one of the branches of said auxiliarycircuit, a pivoted armature for said electro-magnet, a pivoted frame,said frame carrying the said switch whereby when the said electro-magnetis energized the switch is closed, resilient connections between thesaid frame and amature, a latch for holding the switch in its closedposition with the said resilient connections under stress, a secondelectro-magnet in another branch of the auxiliary circuit for unlatchingthe switch to cause the latter to break the main circuit, and

eans under control of the said pivoted frame for causing the saidelectro-magnets to be energized in alternation.

6. An electric system comprising a main circuit or high voltage, aswitch for controlling said circuit, an auxiliary circuit of low voltagehaving branches in parallel arrangement, an electromagnet in one of thebranches of said auxiliary circuit, a pivoted armature for saidelectro-magnet, a frame pivoted coaxially with the said armature, saidframe carrying the said switch whereby when the said electro-magnet isenergized the switch is closed, resilient connections between the saidframe and armature, a latch for holding the armature in its closedposition with the said resilient connections under stress, a secondelectro-magnet in another branch of they auxiliary circuit forunlatching the armature to cause the switch to break the main circuit,and means under control of the said pivoted frame for causing the saidelectro-magnets to be energized in alternation.

7. An electric system comprising a main circuit of high voltage havingnormally open contacts therein, an auxiliary circuit of low voltagehavingbranches in parallel arrangement, an electromagnet in one of thebranches of said auxiliary circuit, a pivoted armature for saidelectro-magnet, a frame connected with and movable with said armaturewhen the electro-magnet is energized, electrically connected springcontacts carried by said frame and adapted Yto close against and connectthe contacts of the main circuit when the electro-magnet is energizedand the said frame is moved, a latch for holding the armature and thespring contacts in their closed positions, a second electro-magnet inanother branch of the auxiliary circuit for unlatching the armature andfor causing the spring contacts to break the main circuit, and meansunder control of the said frame for causing the said electro-magnets tobe energized in alternation.

8. An electric system comprising a main circuit of high voltage havingspaced contacts therein, an auxiliary circuit of low voltage havingbranches in parallel arrangement, an electromagnet in one of thebranches of said auxiliary circuit, a pivoted armature for saidelectromagnet, a frame pivoted coaxially with said armature, resilientconnections between the frame and armature, electrically connectedspring contacts carried by said frame and adapted to close against andconnect the spaced contacts of the main circuit when the electro-magnetis energized and the said frame is moved, a latch for holding thearmature and the spring contacts in their moved position with the saidresilient connections under stress, a second electro-magnet in anotherbranch of the auxiliary circuit for unlatching the armature and forcausing the spring contacts to break the main circuit, and means undercontrol of the said frame for causing the said electro-magnets to beenergized in alternation.

HARRISON H. FOGWELL. CHARLES H. JUDD.

